Despite record turnout of voters in many of the parts of the U.S. on Tuesday, TV ratings did not follow suit, according to Nielsen, which reported that the overall TV audience of 25.4 million viewers on Tuesday night was the lowest for a mid-term since 2014, and just one-third of the TV audience for the 2018 vote.
Cable’s top channel didn’t disappoint when it came to viewership, as Fox News ran away with the ratings on Tuesday night, logging 7.4 million viewers. Unexpectedly, though, MSNBC’s 3.2 million viewers beat out rival CNN, which logged only 2.6 million, marking the first time MSNBC has bettered CNN during any mid-term of presidential election night, according to Neilsen.
Ratings were also down for the top three networks, which cleared their primetime scheduled for election coverage. ABC came out on top with 3.3 million viewers, 38% lower than 2018, followed by NBC with 3.1 million, down 43% from 2018 and then CBS with 2.6 million viewers, down 33%.
In the all important 25-54 demographic CNN tied NBC for second place and beat MSNBC; of the big three, NBC came out on top. Nielsen said that 65% of the TV viewing audience on Tuesday night were 55 and older.
